In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Mathrafel like this:
MATHRAFEL, a township and a hundred in Montgomery. The township is in Llangyniew parish; lies on the river Vyrnwy, 3 miles NE of Llanfair; and is sometimes called Malthyrafel. Real property, £884. The Roman station Mediolanum is supposed to have been here; and a castle of the Princes of Powys, and of the Vipouts, stood on what is thought to have been the Roman station. ...
The castle was refortified by one of the Vipouts about the beginning of the 13th century; L le welyn ap Jorwerth laid siege to it in 1212; and King John, coming with a force from England, compelled Llewelyn to retire, and burnt the castle to the ground. Vestiges of a rampart and a deep fosse still exist, and enclose a quadrangular area of about 2 acres. Three sides were defended by the fosse; the fourth side was defended by a steep eminence overhanging the Vyrnwy; and the N E angle, on that side, has a lofty moun d on which may have stood an outwork, commanding a full view up and down the vale.-The hundred contains five parishes, and parts of two others. Acres, 62,9 48. Pop. in 1851,5,784; in 1861,5,677. Houses, 1,168.
Mathrafel through time
Mathrafel is now part of Powys district. Click here for graphs and data of how Powys has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Mathrafel itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Mathrafel, in Powys and Montgomeryshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/21003
Date accessed: 14th May 2024
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